Make money selling solar power to Dominion

WASHINGTON – Sunshine can make many things greener, including your wallet.

Dominion Virginia Power is rolling out a new program, allowing customers who utilize solar panels on their property to sell their power back to Dominion.

“They generate electricity from the sun, and that electricity would then be delivered back to Dominion through wires at their home,” explains Dianne Corsello, the utility’s manager of customer solutions for renewable energy and new technology.

“We would have a meter there that would measure how much money is being delivered back to Dominion,” she says.

According to the company, eligible customers would be paid 15 cents per kilowatt- hour.

That is a premium rate.

“It is possible that they might make money on this. It just depends on how large the solar installation is at their home, and how much electricity they use,” Corsello says.

The program runs on a first-come first-serve basis, with the utility accepting applications currently.

Thus far, it has been popular, according to Corsello.

“During the first 30 minutes we had 65 applications,” she says.

The program will have a limit of 3 megawatts, which is equivalent to an estimated 475 to 500 customers.